Weight Loss Surgery

If you're very overweight and can't lose pounds with a healthy diet and exercise, surgery might be an option for you. The surgery is usually for men who are at least 100 pounds overweight and women who are at least 80 pounds overweight. If you are somewhat less overweight, surgery still might be an option if you also have diabetes, heart disease or sleep apnea.

Weight loss surgery limits the amount of food you can take in. Some operations also restrict the amount of food you can digest. Many people who have the surgery lose weight quickly. If you follow diet and exercise recommendations, you can keep most of the weight off. The surgery has risks and complications, however, including infections, hernias and blood clots.

Health

In 1948, the World Health Assembly defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

In 1986 the World Health Organization in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion said health is “a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living.

Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.” Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC) (composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)) also define health.